Many medical professionals revere the vaccine as one of the best medical advances to have ever been created. The invention of the vaccine has eradicated polio from the western hemisphere and has rendered smallpox completely extinct. Every year it is estimated that children adhering to the vaccination schedule prevent 42,000 deaths and twenty million infections (Timmer). Still, though, the rates of intentionally unvaccinated children are on the rise. Parents are fueled by fears that vaccines are not safe or reliable, and are guided to opt out of the vaccination schedule based on misinformation. Regardless of the wrong information spread among parents, parents should not refrain from vaccinating their children because vaccines are a safe and
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Amongst the polio epidemic, Jonas Salk created the first polio vaccine. Within days, parents eagerly volunteered their children to take part in the trial of the polio vaccine. Salk’s vaccine was then deemed safe, effective, and potent on April 12, 1955, when those vaccinated proved to be immune to polio. Americans congregated to receive the vaccine, but the euphoria of immunity quickly waned when the first handful of children who had fallen ill after receiving the vaccine were reported to Washington. After two weeks, six children were identified as paralyzed after getting doses of the immunization from Cutter’s Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company manufacturing and distributing Salk’s vaccine. As time went on dozens more children vaccinated with Cutter’s product were falling to their demise or becoming completely paralyzed (Mnookin …show more content…
It concluded that after receiving the DTP vaccine children had an elevated risk of febrile seizures, but the risks did not appear to be permanent or to be associated with long-term effects (Offit 32). Moreover, in 2001, an Australian doctor conducted a study on 14 people experiencing seizures after receiving the DTP vaccine. He found that 11 of the 14 individuals had a genetic disorder called Dravet’s Syndrome. Dravet’s Syndrome begins to surface in the first year of life, around the time one gets a dose of the DTP vaccine; the syndrome causes mental retardation and seizures 100 percent of the time (Offit 42). It was then clear that all the hype that Vaccine Roulette produced, was a distraction to the real ailment: a genetic disorder titled Dravet’s Syndrome, not permanent damage caused by pertussis
Amongst the polio epidemic, Jonas Salk created the first polio vaccine. Within days, parents eagerly volunteered their children to take part in the trial of the polio vaccine. Salk’s vaccine was then deemed safe, effective, and potent on April 12, 1955, when those vaccinated proved to be immune to polio. Americans congregated to receive the vaccine, but the euphoria of immunity quickly waned when the first handful of children who had fallen ill after receiving the vaccine were reported to Washington. After two weeks, six children were identified as paralyzed after getting doses of the immunization from Cutter’s Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company manufacturing and distributing Salk’s vaccine. As time went on dozens more children vaccinated with Cutter’s product were falling to their demise or becoming completely paralyzed (Mnookin …show more content…
It concluded that after receiving the DTP vaccine children had an elevated risk of febrile seizures, but the risks did not appear to be permanent or to be associated with long-term effects (Offit 32). Moreover, in 2001, an Australian doctor conducted a study on 14 people experiencing seizures after receiving the DTP vaccine. He found that 11 of the 14 individuals had a genetic disorder called Dravet’s Syndrome. Dravet’s Syndrome begins to surface in the first year of life, around the time one gets a dose of the DTP vaccine; the syndrome causes mental retardation and seizures 100 percent of the time (Offit 42). It was then clear that all the hype that Vaccine Roulette produced, was a distraction to the real ailment: a genetic disorder titled Dravet’s Syndrome, not permanent damage caused by pertussis